Parks of London

23:01
Alyson Tart
1 Comments

After six months of living in London, Belle has visited parks in London several times. Living a 20 minute walk from Kensington Gardens, it's our favorite haunt.

This weekend, we decided to go crazy and get adventurous by trying out some of the other local parks.

Our first stop was Hamstead Heath. While it isn't one of the Royal Parks, it is a favorite by many locals.

Why is that? First off, because it is huge. It continues to amaze me the planning that has gone in to many of these European cities, but especially London, to save space for public park. Hampstead Heath is made up of more than 790 acres of country oasis, all within the city.

The best part about the Heath are the open spaces for Belle to run like the wild dog she can be sometimes. There are many areas that have paths with green, rolling hills in between, and benches dotting the landscape for those who may want to sit and take it all in.

I spy a happy little dog

On prettier days, you'll find many people flying kites. On winter days, you may find sledders. It's a fantastic place to just be outdoors.

Belle is saying "I'm so happy! Park! Belly rub!"

And the whole point of the trip was for Belle. She loved it. As soon as we let her off the lead, she ran laps around us, almost jumping for joy. She ran from one wonderful smell to the next and managed to dirty herself up pretty good in the process.

Best place to rest up after running around? A puddle of mud, obviously

Luckily, the Heath has 25 lakes within its acreage. Some are more for waterfowl, like ducks and swans; others, dogs can jump in and swim to their hearts desire. And, for those off path wanderers like Belle, clean off some mud in the process.

One of the 25 lakes at the park

The one part of the Heath we didn't get to check out was Kenwood House, which you may remember from the end of the film Notting Hill. While it is closed for renovations until Autumn 2013, hopefully on our next trip (which will be soon!) we can wander by for some views of the iconic building front.